Well since we last posted we have gone all through Germany, I will try and write a post about that latter.
Today we got up early and went to the Centenary Celebration of Scouting down near the Castle. It was good to meet scouts from all over the place. Some Czech Republic Scouts have invited us to come traveling for about a week with them, which is good because we cant hire a car and they have a coach we can go in plus a tent we can borrow. They are really nice. The only problem is that my friend Jenni may have tickets for us to go to the Tattoo tomorrow night, its dress rehearsal but it will have everything in it and I think it will be free. She just hasn't been able to contact us because of her rehearsal schedule.
We hope to head on up to the north and see where Ellies rellies are from. We also hope to see Dolmellington near Glasgow, we'll probably go latter in the trip on the way to Ireland.
Wednesday 1 August 2007
Saturday 7 July 2007
Well we've been having a great time here in Southampton visiting where I used to live.
Yesterday we went to Portsmouth where Nelson's ship the Victory is kept along with Henry the 8ths flag ship, the Mary Rose.
The Bus ride took for ever and depsite being a normal bus cost us about $15 each.
Today we headed off to go and see southsea common, its a saturday and only 1 bus leaves every 3 hours. We were standing at the bus stop at the top of the hill ready to get on. Ellie signalled our intention to get on but the bus just kept going right past us. It was so frustrating, so we had to come into town instead and will go off to Southampton common this arvo instead.
Anyway times running out so WE'll add more latter
Yesterday we went to Portsmouth where Nelson's ship the Victory is kept along with Henry the 8ths flag ship, the Mary Rose.
The Bus ride took for ever and depsite being a normal bus cost us about $15 each.
Today we headed off to go and see southsea common, its a saturday and only 1 bus leaves every 3 hours. We were standing at the bus stop at the top of the hill ready to get on. Ellie signalled our intention to get on but the bus just kept going right past us. It was so frustrating, so we had to come into town instead and will go off to Southampton common this arvo instead.
Anyway times running out so WE'll add more latter
London was so awesome. We both got so excited as soon as the plane landed, especially Ellie who had never been here before.
The Art Gallery was really good with lots of simply amazing works including Van Gough, Monet, Turner and Devinci. The best part about the museum is that its free!
We also enjoyed seeing the Tower of London on the last day. It took us the whole day but we got to see everything. Unfortunately the Crown Jewels were not as impressive as WE had expected. Luckily though we got in at the right time otherwise we would have had to wait like half an hour, several tour groups had begun to go in just as we got out the exit.
The Art Gallery was really good with lots of simply amazing works including Van Gough, Monet, Turner and Devinci. The best part about the museum is that its free!
We also enjoyed seeing the Tower of London on the last day. It took us the whole day but we got to see everything. Unfortunately the Crown Jewels were not as impressive as WE had expected. Luckily though we got in at the right time otherwise we would have had to wait like half an hour, several tour groups had begun to go in just as we got out the exit.
Wednesday 4 July 2007
Old England
Well we're in England now. It was so difficult to get any internet time in Japan, let alone enough to write blog entries, hopefully europe will be a bit easier.
We were in London for 3 days but are now down in Southampton until we head off to Germany where we will catch up with my father who is off to conference there.
We sore the Tower of London, The National Art Museum, Trafalgar Square, Their equivalent of the High Court and quite a few other things which WE will post about shortly.
Internet time running out.
Love Will and EL
We were in London for 3 days but are now down in Southampton until we head off to Germany where we will catch up with my father who is off to conference there.
We sore the Tower of London, The National Art Museum, Trafalgar Square, Their equivalent of the High Court and quite a few other things which WE will post about shortly.
Internet time running out.
Love Will and EL
Saturday 16 June 2007
Will and Ellies Trip Vol 1
Hi All,
Were missing you all so much and wishing you could be here with us.Here is a taste of what's happened so far;We were in Tokyo for a Week which was a bit overwhelmingly huge. Imagine the whole population of Australian packed into a city not much bigger than Sydney and then you have some idea of it all. We stayed with a fantastic friend called Anita and her 13 year old son called Christopher, this saved us a heap of money and they are really nice so it was good to catch up with them after not seeing the for a while.
After Tokyo we headed up to a place called Nikko where the see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil Monkeys are. This was Ironic because the next major port of call was Nagasaki (where the second Atomic bomb was dropped, for those of you playing trivial pursuit at home). Nagasaki was horrific. The museum was very hard to cope with but we both strongly recommend that you all come and have a look at it and Hiroshima one day.
After Nagasaki we headed further South to a small city call Kumamoto which had one of the nicest places we have stayed so far. The owner picked us up from the train station, carried our bags despite our protesting, gave us free tea and coffee and also droped us down the hill from the fantastic view available from the accommodation. All for $30 pp/night. In Kumamoto we went to an interesting castle that had a great view.
Then we went down to a place called Kagoshima, where Go Takamura is from (for those of you who know the Japanese exchange teacher at Dickson from last year) but we couldn't find him. From Kagoshima we went out to this really nice Island that has a big volcano on it. We went to a really nice outdoor onsen there that looked out over the ocean. Be both got to go to the same bath because everyone wear these Yakata (white robes). This was a good first experience of a Japanese Public bath for Ellie. I went into another where I actually had to take my cloths off in front of other men. Surprisingly it just felt normal, nobody was comparing each other. But I made sure I didn't bend down to pick up the soap.
From Kagoshima we got back on the express train back up to Hiroshima where the first atomic bomb was dropped. We went to the peace park which was a really nice place to celebrate peace. The Museum inside it is very confronting but well worth going to. We recommend that if you haven't been before you come to Japan and see Hiroshima. Its Ellie's favourite Japanese place so far. In the museum it was very even handed about why America decided to drop the bomb but it made it very clear no one should use nuclear weapons. We stayed in the International Youth House which is just next to the park, it was 60dollars/night for the two of us and fully kitted out. We tried to go to this baked potato restaurant but sadly it never seemed to be open.
Then it was off to Shikoku, where we stayed in Kochi a nice little place in the south which was really beautiful. It has an awesome Youth Hostel which was one of the cheapest places we stayed and also the place were we started this email. Kochi boasts a wonderful castle, one of the only castles in Japan which is still mostly the original building- most others were flattened in WW2 and rebuilt with concrete in the 1960s. We wished we had a bit more time to stay in KochiTragically our rail passes then ran out, just in time for us to arrive in Kyoto, where we are now. We are staying in a traditional Japanese wooden house, complete with tatami mats and a shower with green mouldy walls. We just spent the whole morning running around Kyoto searching for an ATM, so that we can continue to eat, drink and sleep under a roof instead of the park bench. Its been good to spend time in an internet Cafe.
Anyway we need to go and get see some more stuff around Kyoto before we head off to Osaka tomorrow so we will complete volume one ...however stay tuned there will soon be another report, thinking of all of you! Send this on to anyone who you think would like to see this but didn't manage to get it in our first round of sending.
Love,
Will and Ellie
Were missing you all so much and wishing you could be here with us.Here is a taste of what's happened so far;We were in Tokyo for a Week which was a bit overwhelmingly huge. Imagine the whole population of Australian packed into a city not much bigger than Sydney and then you have some idea of it all. We stayed with a fantastic friend called Anita and her 13 year old son called Christopher, this saved us a heap of money and they are really nice so it was good to catch up with them after not seeing the for a while.
After Tokyo we headed up to a place called Nikko where the see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil Monkeys are. This was Ironic because the next major port of call was Nagasaki (where the second Atomic bomb was dropped, for those of you playing trivial pursuit at home). Nagasaki was horrific. The museum was very hard to cope with but we both strongly recommend that you all come and have a look at it and Hiroshima one day.
After Nagasaki we headed further South to a small city call Kumamoto which had one of the nicest places we have stayed so far. The owner picked us up from the train station, carried our bags despite our protesting, gave us free tea and coffee and also droped us down the hill from the fantastic view available from the accommodation. All for $30 pp/night. In Kumamoto we went to an interesting castle that had a great view.
Then we went down to a place called Kagoshima, where Go Takamura is from (for those of you who know the Japanese exchange teacher at Dickson from last year) but we couldn't find him. From Kagoshima we went out to this really nice Island that has a big volcano on it. We went to a really nice outdoor onsen there that looked out over the ocean. Be both got to go to the same bath because everyone wear these Yakata (white robes). This was a good first experience of a Japanese Public bath for Ellie. I went into another where I actually had to take my cloths off in front of other men. Surprisingly it just felt normal, nobody was comparing each other. But I made sure I didn't bend down to pick up the soap.
From Kagoshima we got back on the express train back up to Hiroshima where the first atomic bomb was dropped. We went to the peace park which was a really nice place to celebrate peace. The Museum inside it is very confronting but well worth going to. We recommend that if you haven't been before you come to Japan and see Hiroshima. Its Ellie's favourite Japanese place so far. In the museum it was very even handed about why America decided to drop the bomb but it made it very clear no one should use nuclear weapons. We stayed in the International Youth House which is just next to the park, it was 60dollars/night for the two of us and fully kitted out. We tried to go to this baked potato restaurant but sadly it never seemed to be open.
Then it was off to Shikoku, where we stayed in Kochi a nice little place in the south which was really beautiful. It has an awesome Youth Hostel which was one of the cheapest places we stayed and also the place were we started this email. Kochi boasts a wonderful castle, one of the only castles in Japan which is still mostly the original building- most others were flattened in WW2 and rebuilt with concrete in the 1960s. We wished we had a bit more time to stay in KochiTragically our rail passes then ran out, just in time for us to arrive in Kyoto, where we are now. We are staying in a traditional Japanese wooden house, complete with tatami mats and a shower with green mouldy walls. We just spent the whole morning running around Kyoto searching for an ATM, so that we can continue to eat, drink and sleep under a roof instead of the park bench. Its been good to spend time in an internet Cafe.
Anyway we need to go and get see some more stuff around Kyoto before we head off to Osaka tomorrow so we will complete volume one ...however stay tuned there will soon be another report, thinking of all of you! Send this on to anyone who you think would like to see this but didn't manage to get it in our first round of sending.
Love,
Will and Ellie
Monday 28 May 2007
Here we are in Japan sheering wales as big as sheep
Well Ellie and I have arrived in good old Japan.
Everything has been a bit of a culture shock. Ellie is really enjoying the sushi and on that note food is so cheap here. Yesterday when we were on our way to Sensoji Temple (the main one for Tokyo) we stopped in a donut shop to get something sweet. When I finally got a chance to bite in it I discovered to my horror that it was a curry centred donut. It was ok but not what I was expecting. During the day we were a bit like Japanese tourists are in Australia, we took photos of everything and I mean everything. I'll try to add some of the crazy signs that we sore to the blog soon.
Tonight we plan to go to a Baseball game with the friends that we are staying with here in Tokyo, So stay tuned for the next installment of WE.
Everything has been a bit of a culture shock. Ellie is really enjoying the sushi and on that note food is so cheap here. Yesterday when we were on our way to Sensoji Temple (the main one for Tokyo) we stopped in a donut shop to get something sweet. When I finally got a chance to bite in it I discovered to my horror that it was a curry centred donut. It was ok but not what I was expecting. During the day we were a bit like Japanese tourists are in Australia, we took photos of everything and I mean everything. I'll try to add some of the crazy signs that we sore to the blog soon.
Tonight we plan to go to a Baseball game with the friends that we are staying with here in Tokyo, So stay tuned for the next installment of WE.
Tuesday 27 February 2007
New Job for Ellie!
Ellie started her new job today and as usual there was a few unexpected surprises like a lower rate of pay and less hours of work and no lunch break, thank you hotel chain that shall remain nameless while Ellie works there. Nobody would want to make it at all easy for young people in this world to earn a quid.
Will is still looking for another job but is hoping to get a job as a tour guide at a museum.
Will is still looking for another job but is hoping to get a job as a tour guide at a museum.
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